Tag Archives: hiit

Going Strong: A Playground HIIT Workout Routine

01/20/2015 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

How often to you bring your little ones to the playground? And how often does it interfere with your fitness goals? Although it might be a change from your normal workout routine, the playground offers plenty of equipment to create a quick, muscle-burning HIIT routine all while your kids run free.

Now that Avery is walking ~~like a champ~~ kind of good, I plan on taking her to playgrounds and activity centers a lot in the near and distant future. Last Sunday, Going Mom gave me free time as she played with Avery at home, so I took advantage of the nice weather (70 degrees and sunny!!) and went for a walk……with my 20lb weight vest.

My foot injury from a few months ago has come back because I started running and jumping on it before it healed all the way, so walking is the most I can do. I’ve been going back and forth on buying an indoor water rower like this one, but keep talking myself out of it. Not sure why since I’ve talked about it for years, but my wife is getting extremely tired of listening to me talk about it and says she’s about to just buy it herself.

Guess that would be hard to refuse. Think I should just “row” with it and buy the thing?

Back to the playground. On my lonesome walk with a 20lb vest and Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast playing, I ventured to a desolate playground at a nearby elementary school and figured I’d “play” a little to test things out for future Avery.

With my 20lb vest still on, I ended up doing this HIIT routine….

5 rounds of:

– Monkey Bar Chin-Ups x 5

– Parallel Bar Dips x 10

– Squats x 15

Rest 30 – 45 seconds between rounds.

And there you go, it took about 15 minutes to complete this full body workout.

I know I was alone and having a kid would make this a bit more challenging, but there’s always a way, and I’ll figure it out soon enough. Besides playgrounds, since the weather will turn bad again, I can’t wait to go to a trampoline park or indoor bounce house and play around with Avery there. Hopefully this darn foot is better soon……for the second time.

There are plenty of exercises you can do on playground equipment, and as the time passes, I will try more and share them with you here. The weight vest is optional, but as a stay-at-home dad, I’m probably already a minority to all of the at-home moms, so why not set myself further from “the pack” anyway?

Do you do workout routines on the playground?

Anywhere else that you’ve created workouts when with the kids?

Please share as I would love to hear and try them for myself!

Going Strong: Turn Playtime Into An Intense HIIT Workout

12/05/2014 R.C. Liley 3 Comments

I’ve been feeling guilty lately. Avery’s activity level has increased tremendously from roly poly days of yore. Okay, it really wasn’t that long ago, but a guy can exaggerate, right?

Hi, I'm cute but can't do much else right now! — Hi, I’m cute but can’t do much else right now!

All parents say it, and we’ll probably continue to say it forever; time flies! I skipped the “when you’re having fun” part because, lets face it, it’s not always fun. 🙂

Anyway, my guilt is spurred from ability to play more and allow me to be active with her but I still take time to do my workouts in the garage as she plays in her jumper.

As long as I don’t push my luck, she remains patient and happily “talks”, screams, and jumps around, but these days are numbered. Soon, the jumper will no longer work and I need to setup an area for her to walk/crawl around. Keyword, WALK! You reading this, Avery?

Not one to just skip exercise for the day, I decided to get creative and combine playtime with a full body HIIT workout routine. I really wanted to stay indoors when I made this since the weather sucked that day, and it turned out to be pretty fun but intense. Functional fitness just took on a new meaning!

For this, the only equipment you need is a box and a baby.

Playtime HIIT Workout Routine

3 Rounds of 30 Seconds On, 30 Seconds Off

Thrusters with baby

Mountain climbers

Crunches (or other form of core work)

Push-ups

Running in place

Push your kid in a box (Substitute Bear crawls if no box)

Burpees

Lift baby overhead from side to side (in the shape of a half-moon)

Alternating forward lunges while holding baby

Karate kicks

Avery enjoyed the random movements and did the whole time until the end of the 3rd round. I think she was getting frustrated with me setting her back down, so be warned.

Either way, I think you should definitely give it a try as it will get your blood flowing while you “play” with your kid. It’s a win-win!

I can’t stress enough how important our role as parents is when it comes to teaching by example. Please for the health of your kids as well as your own, show them how being active can be fun and rewarding!

Being the nice guy that I am, I put together a quick video to demonstrate the moves. Since my stack of boxes on the kitchen island wasn’t high enough, I cut my head off of the entire thing. Since I have no desire to do a re-shoot, I’m leaving it as is. #keepingitunique

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HopIOAkS4I]

I hope you give the routine a try and share your experience with me in the comments. If you have any questions, please go right ahead and ask away. If you’re in a time crunch, only do 1 or 2 rounds of this. Moving some is better than none!

This post is part of the #FitFamilyFriday Link up where you can find other excellent posts by healthy parents sharing health-inspired information. Click on over and check it out and share if you care!

Going Strong

Going Strong: High Intensity Interval Mowing with Fiskars

04/18/2014 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

We’ve all heard of high intensity interval training (HIIT) as a great way to workout in a short amount of time. The most common form of HIIT is sprinting, and for good reason, it will get your blood flowing and lungs burning fast. This equates to an efficient calorie burning, do anywhere exercise anyone can utilize.

I’ve been into long distance running for years, and the hours spent running high miles is rewarding, but there’s not always time to fit in a long run. Lately, I do more sprinting, mostly up a hill, and keep going until my legs and lungs are begging me to stop.

Now that we have Avery, being able to run for over an hour is scarce, and if I do, I have her in the B.O.B. and our dog, Abby, in tow. Not the most comfortable, but it’s not that bad…..unless it’s windy, that stroller is like running with an umbrella!

Luckily, I have a Fiskars Reel Mower to lend a helping hand at accomplishing chores and a workout all at once! Just mowing with a reel mower like the Fiskars provides more cardiovascular activity than the gas-powered alternative, but why not up the ante?

How, you ask? By combining HIIT sprints with reel mowing of course! In the Fiskars StaySharp Max Owner’s Manual, they provide a useful outline of how to mow your lawn with their reel mower. I’ve provided the picture below:

Use this as a great way to plan your sprint mowing workout. I like to get the edging out of the way first as my “warm up” and then proceed to sprint back and forth across the lawn with as little rest as possible.

Yes, corny pose, I know, lets just try and look past that…mmmmkay?

I enjoy making things hard on myself, so as you see, I’m wearing a weight vest. This just adds another level of difficulty and helps keep me primed for when I mow wearing Avery and she doubles in weight.

Caution: DO NOT sprint while wearing your baby!!

To help you out, I put together a little video of me sprint mowing in action. This was during Avery’s naptime which is why I have a hurried look on my face.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xQzneLFFBc?rel=0&w=420&h=315]

Again, you do not need to wear a weight vest, sprint mowing is already a great workout.

This is just another way I am enjoying our Fiskars Reel Mower and plan on keeping fit by mowing while wearing Avery in the Onya or by sprinting with a weight vest. It’s a great form of exercise while tending to your household duties, and I recommend you give it a spin.

Do you have any fun ways to fit in a workout and accomplish household tasks? Please share if you do!